Cold Calling in the Age of AI
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
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“Everyone prospects. Even the CCO with an $80M target.” – Justin Michael, on The Insiders
Cold calling isn’t dead. But it’s evolved.
Today’s outbound sales landscape is louder, more complex, and increasingly tech driven. The modern sales professional is navigating a bloated stack, a savvier buyer, and inboxes drowning in automation.
So, how do you break through the noise? In this episode of The Insiders, durhamlane co-founder Richard Lane sits down with Justin Michael – co-author of Cold Call Algo – to explore what it takes to win in the era of AI and cold calling. Spoiler: It’s not about scripts or sequences. It’s about how you show up.
Prefer to listen? Catch the full episode here.
Why cold calling has a reputation problem
Let’s not sugarcoat it: most B2B cold calls fall flat. They’re unoriginal, overly polite, and quickly forgotten.
The cold calls that work in 2025 don’t ask for permission – they earn attention.
Today, relevance is the real differentiator. That doesn’t mean being rude. It means being direct, insightful, and surprising. Ditch the small talk. Lead with something they didn’t expect – a sharp question, a powerful data point, or a genuine point of view.
This concept of the “pattern break” is a powerful lever in modern B2B cold calling. The goal? Cut through mental clutter and make your presence felt – immediately.
“When you ask for permission, powerful people don’t mistreat you – but they don’t take you seriously either.”
Justin Michael
Co-Author of Cold Call Algo
Cold calling isn’t just for SDRs
Outbound isn’t just for SDRs. Justin shared stories of VPs and even Chief Customer Officers who still picked up the phone – and won because of it. The message is clear: no one is too senior to prospect.
In today’s enterprise environment, it takes more than one call to one person to move the needle.
In this environment, multithreading is non-negotiable. The best reps know how to map an account, build a POV across stakeholders, and move laterally through a business to uncover the truth behind the tech stack, the buying cycle and the decision-making chain.
“Everything is political. Nothing is transactional anymore.”
Justin Michael
Co-Author of Cold Call Algo
Your message isn’t broken, your data is
If your emails are bouncing or your connect rate is 2%, the issue likely isn’t your subject line. It’s your data. Or more accurately – your lack of clean, reliable, enriched data.
Clean, enriched, up-to-date data is the lifeblood of any outbound sales motion. The smartest messaging in the world won’t land if the contact details are wrong – or if your prospect doesn’t exist in your system.
Want your cold call to work? Start by fixing your list.
“All the problems are upstream in RevOps.”
Justin Michael
Co-Author of Cold Call Algo
AI is your co-pilot, not your replacement
AI and cold calling are now intrinsically linked. But tech isn’t the secret weapon. Orchestration is.
“Cold calling in the age of AI isn’t about effort – it’s about orchestration.” – Richard Lane
Your stack matters – but your people matter more. AI can help you work faster and surface patterns. But your tone, your timing, your ability to read the room? That’s still 100% human.
It’s a belief we live by at durhamlane: the magic happens when tech and people work together, underpinned by process and data. Or as we like to say: start-up energy meets enterprise maturity.
Use AI to scale your efforts, but never let the tech replace your thinking. Because tools like Cloudlead or TaskMinions won’t help if your SDRs don’t know how to orchestrate.
“The sellers who win are the ones who can think and act like strategic advisors, not email blasters.”
Richard Lane
Co-Founder & CCO, durhamlane
Want to master the modern cold call?
Justin’s new book Cold Call Algo lays out over 25 cold call openers, AI-powered outreach strategies, and a playbook for breaking into the most elusive accounts.
But if you want a taster now – this episode is it. You’ll hear:
How to unlock accounts using multithreading and reverse psychology
Why “dirty data” is killing your pipeline
The mindset shift needed to prospect at a high level
What it takes to blend human-led outreach with AI augmentation
Sales is still human
Tech evolves. Playbooks change. But sales remains fundamentally human.
The sellers who win in today’s B2B cold calling environment aren’t the ones with the flashiest tools. They’re the ones who ask sharper questions, listen harder, and engage more intelligently – using every tool at their disposal to create value.
If you’re still making cold calls in 2025 (and you should be), remember this: Don’t spill your candy in the lobby.
Be bold. Be curious. And above all, be human!
Want the full story?
If you liked this, listen to The Insiders podcast episode with Justin Michael for more. Whether you are an SDR, AE, or Head of Sales – if you’re serious about modernising your top-of-funnel strategy, this one’s for you.
Ready to turn cold outreach into pipeline? Let’s chat.